“Dry work” or “dry mechanics” is a term used to describe pitching practice exercise designed to improve muscle memory, feel and reliable repetition without actually pitching the ball which can strain the arm.“Towel drills” are a subset of dry work where a pitcher uses a towel to simulate the motions of pitching a ball. One goal of towel drilling is to snap the towel during the simulated pitching motion providing instant feedback at a point of release that corresponds to the actual point of release for a thrown ball. Another goal is to reinforce proper timing of a pitcher's stride in relation to his/her torso twist. In order to perform a towel drill, a hand towel is folded lengthwise and then transversely folded with equal ends of typically 8 to 12 inches. The middle finger of the pitching hand is placed through the bend so that the curve of the bend is on the palm side of the hand. One popular exercise is to grip a hand towel between a thumb and middle finger of a throwing hand, the trainee strings forward, then takes five additional steps forward. A second person places a target at belly button height of the trainee (five steps in front of the trainee's stride). During the stretch delivery, the trainee snaps the towel to hit the target. Any shift in posture by the trainee will result in a missed target. Rotating too early will also result in the trainer being short of the target. The foregoing exercise encourages late rotation of the trunk which is desirable trait in pitching mechanics.
Although many coaches encourage towel drills, one criticism of the practice is that a towel can never feel like a baseball. The way a towel is held, the weight, etc., differ from a baseball. What is needed is a training apparatus that cooperates with traditional towel drill exercises, but provides a more realistic feel that will not distract and encourage proper body mechanics when performing the drill.
It would be desirable to provide a towel trainer that has a handle portion that substitutes for a ball, and a tail portion that is able to snap when the forward traveling arm reaches a release moment.
It would be desirable to provide a towel trainer having different handle configurations to in order to adapt to pitcher preferences.
It would be further desirable to include a means for tracking the position and speed of the trainer during dry training.
It would be especially desirable if readily available hand towels were useable in embodiments of the invention.